Pocket for golf-balls.



No. 7|5,759. Patented Dac; I6, |902'. n. T. 03ML POCKET FOR GOLF BALLS.

Application leq May 10, 1902.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets- $heet l.

No. 715,759. Patented me. la, |902. n. T. CRANE. PUCKET- FDR GOLF BALLS. {Applicatiommed may 1.o, 1902.! (No Model.) v 2 Sheets-#Shad -2.

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onms PETERS Pnomumm WASI-ummmA n.1;

UNITED STATES APATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD T. CRANE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

POCKET FOR GOLF-BALLS.

SPECFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 715,759, dated December 16, 1902- Application led May 10, 1902. Serial No. 106,808. (No model.)

To ML' whom, t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD T. CRANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Racks or Pockets for Golf- Balls, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to improvements in racks or pockets for `carrying a supply of golf-balls and suitable for convenient attachment to caddy-bags.

The object of my invention is to provide a device of this character suitable for carrying such a supply of golf-balls as a player usually wishes to take with him around the links, in which the full number of balls in the pocket may be always in plain sight and yet any one or more of the balls can be readily and quickly removed from the pocket.-

A further object of my invention is to provide such a device which may be closed or 1ocked,77 so to speak vhen the caddy-bag is not in use, so that the golf-balls cannot be removed therefrom without undoing the strap and buckle or other fastening securing the same in closed position.

Among the especial advantages of 'this device having these features is the protection afforded the player against the theft of balls from the ball-pocket. With the devices commonly in use the supply of balls is carried in a pocket in which the balls are concealed, so that although a player may know with how many balls he starts in to play a game he cannot tell at any time whether any ofthe balls have been taken from the pocket without emptying the pocket and counting the balls. For this reason it is an easy matter for a caddy or any other person having ready access to the players caddy-bag to remove one or more of the balls without the theft being discovered until so long afterward that itis hopeless to attempt to ind the guilty person; but by providing a ball rack or pocket so constructed and located that the full supply of balls is in full sight the player can see at a glance with how many balls he starts his games, and as he has frequent occasion to notice the caddy-bag andthe ball-pocket as he selects various playing-clubs from the bag from time to time during the game he will notice at once when any one or more of the balls are missing from the ball-pocket. As at the same time the device is so constructed that it may be conveniently closed, so that no balls can be removed from the pocket without unfastening a buckle or other fastening device, there will be no opportunity to remove a ball from Ithe pocket while the player is not actively engaged in the game without attracting sufficient attention 'to deter one who has no right to unfasten the ballpocket. It also frequently happens in the course of a game that a player wishes to use some particular ball in the ball-pocket. Instead of having` perhaps, to entirely empty the pocket to find the special ball Wanted with a pocket embodying my invention the player can instantly select the one ball wanted and remove it from the pocket Without removing the rest of the balls.

The objects above noted and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of the simplest form of my invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device as shown in Figs. l and 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the preferred modification of my invention. Fig. 5 is a side elevation ot' the inodicationshown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the modications shown in Figs. 4 and 5. Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of a caddy-bag with my device as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 attached thereto. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a caddy-bag with my device as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 attached thereto. Fig. 9 is a similar view to Fig. S, except that the ball-pocket is shown closed and fastened. Fig. 10 shows another modification, and Figs. 11 and 12 show details.

Like letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A is a supporting-rod, carrying a exible wire coil B, the individual coils of which decrease in size at the lower and preferabl y also at the upper end thereof, sothat a golf-ball may not pass out through either end of the coil. The coils of the wire B are normally sufficiently close together to prevent the IOO passage of a golf-ball therebetween ,while they may be manuallysprung apart to allow the removal of the ball. The rod Ais provided with means for attaching it to a caddy-bag, preferably in the form of a hook C, formed by bending over the upper end ofthe rod A. As so constructed the ball-rack may be quickly and effectively attached to the exterior of the caddy-bagin any convenient manner--such, for instance, as that shown in Fig. 7, where the hook C is hooked over the upper edge of the caddy-bag. When the player is not engaged in the game, the ball-rack may be lifted and reversed, so as to hang out of sight on the inside of the caddy-bag.

In the modified and preferred form of my device shown in Fig. 4 the support A is suitably mounted Within a pocket D. This pocket may be conveniently made of leather and riveted to the support A. If, as shown in the drawings, the pocket D is closed at its ends E and F, the coil B may be of uniform diameter throughout, if so desired, the closed ends of the pocket D preventing the escape of golf-balls endwise through the coil. The pocket D may be conveniently attached to the caddy-bag by means of straps G G H H and the buckles I I, in which event the strap G G may, if desired, be permanently attached to the caddy-bag and the straps H H arranged to engage buckles I I when the pocket is in closed position, as shown in Fig. 9. Vhen it is in open position, as shown in Fig. S, it may be retained in that position by any suitable means; but perhaps the most convenient means will be by the use of buckles J J, arranged to engage the straps H H.

In Fig. lO I have shown a still further modification embodying the broad idea of my invention, in which the ball-pocket consists of a support K, carrying a number of flexible clamps L, each set of clamps being arranged to hold one ball. The pocket when so constructed may be conveniently closed by a flap M and fastened by a strap or by a button N, it being understood, of course, that the flap may be similarly held in open position, if desired, while the player is engaged in the game.

Fig. l2 is a detail showing a clamp made of flexible loops of Wire O, Fig. 1l being an enlarged plan view of the same form of clamp.

Of course it will be understood that there may be various modifications in the details of construction and attachments to my device without departing from the broad idea of my invention, which relates primarily to providing means for use With a caddy-bag for removably containing and confining a supply of golf-balls in plain sight.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A ball-rack comprising the combination with a pocket open on one side, of a flexible coil mounted in said pocket and arranged to contain a plurality of balls.

2. A ball-rack comprising the combination with a pocket, of a flexible coil mounted therein and arranged to normally contain, and expose, a plurality of balls, means for concealing the balls in said rack from view, and a fastening for said concealing means, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a caddy-bag, of a ball-rack comprising ar pocket containing a flexible coil arranged to contain a plurality of balls, so that the same may be removed therefrom only when said pocket is in open position, and means forsecuring said pocket in closed position, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a caddy-bag, of a ball-rack comprising a trough-shaped pocket attached to said caddy-bag, provided with a flexible coil mounted therein and arranged to removably contain a plurality of balls, means for fastening said pocket with its open face against the caddy-bag, and means for holding said pocket with its open face away from the caddy-bag, substantially as described.

5. A ball-rack comprising a flexible coil arranged to contain a supply of balls, said coil being tapered toward its ends to prevent the escape of balls lengthwise through said coil.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination with a caddy-bag of a pocket mounted upon the outside thereof, metallic devices attached to said pocket for containing and exposing a plurality of golf-balls, and means for substantially concealing Said balls, substantially as described.

RICHARD T. CRANE.

Witnesses:

O. R. BARNETT, M. E. SHIELDS.

IOO 

